As a writer and co-executive producer behind Transparent, Pose, and American Horror Story, and now Netflix’s supernatural mystery series The Boroughs from the Duffer Brothers, Yona Speidel’s life is the definition of transition.  Previously known as Our Lady J, she is the first out trans woman to perform at Carnegie Hall as well as the first out trans writer to be hired in a television writers’ room and has spent the last decade moving between some of television’s most distinct creative worlds. She grew up in a Mennonite farming village of about 200 people. “The first choice  I was given growing up was either shoveling cow manure or learning the piano,” Speidel, who has converted to Judaism, tells LA Weekly on her way to the Israeli Film Festival.   “I was not good at the farming lifestyle. I love nature and go glamping all the time in my glamper van, but I draw the line and shovel cow manure.” Courtesy of Yona Speidel So she feverishly practiced piano and ended up with a scholarship to the famed Interlochen Center for the Arts, whose alumni include Chappell Roan and Josh Groban. That opened her up to a life in the arts.  She went on to New York and became involved in Broadway and musical theater, and made her Carnegie Hall debut with the  New York City Gay Men’s Chorus in 2004.  “I found the joy of words and how much fun I could have with them and music,” says the soft-spoken Speidel. “Music is a great place to go when you want a blank slate and have an audience see the reflection of their life.  It’s pure emotion and intellectual stimulation. With words, you can find a connection that’s a little bit clearer. For example, I was performing in New York when I transitioned and found that people had a hard time understanding what I was doing. I’d show up to ballet class at 9 a.m. accompanied by the other ballerinas. Some places were welcoming, but some were concerned and wondered if I was doing a drag show.  That was about 22 years ago, so it was before drag was in the zeitgeist like it is today. So I used words in my music to enlighten and teach.  Some people needed to be taught.” Our Lady J (Courtesy Yona Speidel) But despite continued successes, there were challenges and many things she learned about herself along the way. “The pandemic was tough on all of us,” says Speidel, who came out as transgender in 2004  and adopted the name “Our Lady J” as a nod to the controversial Jean Genet novel, Our Lady of the Flowers.   “I found a camper van and went out into nature after having a bit of a burnout,” she says.   “It wasn’t an easy time for the trans community.  I felt I was getting too lost in the weeds of identity.  I really didn’t want to write about identity anymore.  There’s only so much time you can spend looking in the mirror.   I had to look outward, so I went into nature and disappeared in my camper for months at a time and just wrote.  In writing in nature, I found a pure love of life again and a draw to Judaism.”  She decided to convert because she culturally always felt very at home with her  Jewish friends.  It was a long 12-year educational process guided by a rabbi and supported by her family, who always put up a menorah next to the Christmas tree. “You look at musicals, and you look at comedy, which has been formed by jews,”  says the writer who adapts across all genres and has worked with Ryan Murphy on various projects. “When I started writing on Transparent, I started to understand the psychology behind the traditions. There was always a draw, but it was kind of like casual dating. I never thought I would be 100 percent welcomed and seen as a jew until a few years ago, when I was feeling really down and needed something to turn to, and it was Judaism. It helped me get out of a dark period, in learning about all the thousands of years that have gone by and the evolution of Judaism, and that they are one of the most progressive traditions for people like me.  It was a match made in heaven.” Alfred Molina as Sam in episode seven of The Boroughs  (Courtesy of Netflix © 2026) Speidel wrote episode seven, Time To Go on The Burroughs, which is sort of Stranger Things for grownups, with an ensemble cast that includes Geena Davis, Alfred Molina, and Alfre Woodard, and has a musical comedy in the works she hopes to see on Broadway. “Going into The Burroughs, I was so happy that I wasn’t just going in as the ‘trans person in the room.’   I got to write for all these different characters who are full-fledged human beings. When I was assigned the Time To Go episode, I was thrilled to be writing about something that wasn’t about sex or changing my body.  I really poured my heart into it and had the time of my life figuring out how to get these retirees out of a really sticky situation,” says the artist who is always searching to find the best version of herself. From left:  Alfred Molina as Sam, Anna Deavere Smith as Gigi, Mary McDonnell as The Duchess in episode seven of The Boroughs  (Courtesy of Netflix © 2026) The post From a farm boy in a mennonite village to a jewish woman in hollywood, it’s a been a journey for Yona Speidel appeared first on LA Weekly. ...read more read less